Lyae
by Elizabeth Kuhn
Summary: From death do us part. Or so she thought. No one believes her rebirth to be a miracle; is she an abomination? She is alone. Torn apart from the one man she had always loved, Lyae is forced to go back to the beginning and find out where it went wrong.
1. Prologue

Staring down the arch-demon knowing that his death would be my own made me fearful. I played with the silverrite daggers in my hands, watching as it limped towards me, and taking a deep breath I lunged towards it with all my might. The light shatters my peripheral vision and I am cast aside. I can hear the cry of the arch-demon as I feel my very life-force draining.

"Lyae," I hear someone yell and I shut my eyes, longing for sleep. Seconds later, my eyes flutter open, and I quickly observe where I am. I'm looking down on my body-my body, and my companions are huddled around me. I examine them in hopes to find Zevran but I don't see him anywhere. A tear drops down as Wynne is casting hopeless spells to bring me back and Alistair is screaming for the Maker's mercy. I look for Falon and find he has snuggled beneath my arm next to my lifeless body.

"It's okay guys. I'm right here!" I shout, but only the howling of the wind is heard. I quickly rush over to Wynne, maybe her affiliation with a spirit will bring her closer to me, but even she does not sense me.

I look closely at Wynne, the old circle mage who had become like a mother to me. Her eyes are red and tearstained. "She's gone. Let us bring her back so she can be hailed as a hero," Alistair's stern voice shakes me; I cannot tell if he is hurt or angry. My eyes train on him as he lifts my body up and I see him lean in and kiss my forehead.

"Your life does not have to be over, Lyae." The voice is elderly , but isn't familiar. I focus on the spirit in front of me, noting as it continuously fades in and out.

"Yet it is. NO matter if I was alive or dead, once the blight ended I would become no one. Wynne will return to the Circle, and Alistair will be crowned king. Not to mention, Sten, Leliana, and Zevran will all return to their homes. Morrigan has already abandoned me." A tear escapes my watered eyes as I watch my companions leave, my dead body protected by Alistair.

"You do not know, do you?" The spirit ascertains, nodding to Wynne.

"Know what?" I question, becoming rather agitated with the spirit. "Tell me."

The spirit waivers towards me, "I am the spirit of Faith; I was summoned by Wynne. When Riordan told Alistair and you why Grey Wardens are essential to the stop of any true blight, your dear Zevran had been eavesdropping and ran to tell Morrigan and Wynne. With fright the three of them confronted Alistair and devised a plan. Alistair and Morrigan would perform a ritual so the arch-demons soul would impregnate Morrigan. They forgot one vital detail; Alistair must kill the arch-demon. Wynne had summoned me to hold you back from death if you died and the ritual failed."

"I don't believe you," I say rushing past the spirit, towards the body of the arch-demon. "Zevran doesn't care about me, he would not bother."

"Ah, but you are mistaken my dear. Nonetheless, this transition will be a little harder on the both of us, since you are not a mage. It will be more difficult to bring you back."  
"What will happen to Wynne?" I demand, worrying about the mother figure that had guided me all this time.

"She will die. She is aware of this and is prepared to make the sacrifice." The spirit says, coaxing me towards it.

"No, that cannot be. I will not let her!" I lunge out of the trance, and glare towards the spirit.

"Shh child. Come rest now."


	2. Chapter 1

I gasp for air, bolting upright, only to hit my head on something hard and fall back. I don't understand where I am and I furiously attempt to focus on my surroundings, but I can only see total blackness. My hands find the ceiling and I am baffled as to why this room has no height. The need for air is consuming me and I kick, hitting my legs multiple times on the hard object I'm in. I try to remember what I was doing before I had blacked out.

_Arch-demon…Zevran…spirit…Wynne…dead._

It all floods back to me as I realize I am in some sort of burial chamber, locked inside. Angrily, I curse the spirit that brought me life, and take a deep breath, a mistake I quickly realized. My mind wanders to Zevran, and I wonder what has become of him. After that night I ended it because I knew of my impending death, he yelled at me, and left. I miss his leather fetishes, and his tales of being a Crow. I can hear footsteps and I am alert now, gripping for my daggers, only to find they are not there. "This is where the famed warden is, they say." I hear a scraggly man's voice say.

"Let's peel her out." Another voice says; feminine, seductive. I position myself as I know I will soon be revealed to them and I don't know their intentions. I can hear the moving of a rock slab and I know this must be where I am. I see a faint crack of sunlight and a gush of air intoxicates me.

"Maker's breath! She's alive!" I hear the man shout and they drag me out of the slab. I quickly push away and position myself defensively, knowing I will have to rely primarily on my hands if they attack.

"Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. Leliana, come quickly!" The woman says to me, and I twist my head to watch as a petite figure approaches me.  
"Leliana? What are you doing here?" I shout and run over to her only to be stopped by an arrow being pointed at me.

"What are **you** doing alive?" She demands, eyes brimming with fury.

"I…I don't know-Wynne did it. Wynne! Is she alright?" I question.

"She served in court until she became sick. She returned to the Circle where she passed away weeks later. She mentioned you on her deathbed, so I, nonetheless came to investigate. Now I wonder how you are alive." While she spoke her bow lowered until it was no longer aimed at me but still slight drawn.

I stare at her two companions; an elven mage and a human warrior. "I don't understand, myself. I believe it has to do with Wynne's death."

"Why did it take so long for you to come back? Why did Wynne not tell us?" These questions she asks, but I do not have answers for her.

The human moves closer to Leliana and gently lays his hand on her shoulder, "We need to move her. It isn't safe."

"Yes, you're right Hawke. We cannot tell anyone of this until we understand it ourselves. Merrill, do you sense an abomination?" The elven mage steps up and hovers her hand in close proximity to my face.

I feel a cold chill run down my spine and I shudder. The feeling passes and she steps back from me. "There is a spirit but it is not evil. I would like to go into the Fade and confront the spirit. I want to understand how it managed to gain access to her, it must be extremely powerful."  
"We will need lyrium and mages," Leliana states, "I will speak with Alistair." I perk up at the mention of my old friend's name, yet knowing my death caused him much pain.

Leliana notices my actions and responds, "He is king now. He granted your father, Cyrion, position of Bann in the Alienage. We will chat more once we reach safety." She tosses two daggers to me and I smile at her, though I wish I could have my bow. As I follow Leliana out of the tomb, I notice Hawke and Merill eye me suspiciously. As we travel, the thought of seeing everyone once more consumed me. I wondered their reactions and feared the worst. Most of all, I wondered what had become of Zevran. The urge to see him once more filled me. I wished to apologize and beg for him back. I was afraid, also, that he might have met another, and that I would be long forgotten. Leliana is always a pace ahead of me, her two companions behind me, cautious. I know the shock this must come across for Leliana, but I hope she understands in time. Wynne gave her life for me, and I cannot let that go in vain. I take one of the daggers out if its unsheathe, and play with it, tracing the sharp edge gently against the palm of my hand as we walk. It is a blade I am all too familiar with.

"Is this fang?" I ask, noticing the markings on the blade. It was a gift from my father, once belonging to my mother. A gift I shall always treasure.

"Yes, I held onto it as I was the only one to have use of it. No one wished to sell it and Zev had gone." The mention of Zevran makes my heart ache and I attempt a smile.

"Thank you, Leliana." I sheathe the dagger and take a deep breath. Maybe things will be better after all.

"_Hmmm…that smell… this is Antivan leather, isn't it? I would know that smell anywhere!" Zevran chuckles, "I don't know how you found it, but thank you." _

"_What are you waiting for? Try them on!" _

"_But I'm not finished admiring them, yet! Can you smell that? Like rotting flesh. Just like back in Antiva City. Now if only you could find me a prostitute or two, a bowl of fish chowder, and a corrupt politician! I'd really feel like I was home!" A short laugh escapes and I smile gently at him, wishing I could tell him I feel like home when I'm with him. "And they fit as well! Marvelous!" _

_I watch as he disappears into his tent, continuously admiring his boots. "I love you Zev."_

"Are you alright?" My eyes flutter open to face the human, Hawke. I notice the three of them have surrounded me and it is until then I realize that I had stopped walking.

"I-I'm fine," I brush them off and walk hastily ahead of them.


End file.
